The Thinking Space: The Café as a Cultural Institution in Paris, Italy and Vienna
by Leona Rittner, W. Scott Haine, and Jeffrey H. Jackson
A strong collection of fascinating research on how cafés actually worked. Sartre and Beauvoir worked at Flore, sitting side by side. This was how books got written. The café was also the place one met with students, argued with colleagues, conspired against rivals.